Prom 62: Rattle conducts Mahler’s Sixth

‘None of his works came as directly from his inmost heart as this.’ So said Mahler’s wife Alma of her husband’s Symphony No. 6, a score of such terrifying and ominous power that it came to spook even the composer himself. Across the symphony’s four movements we hear Mahler grappling with his own demise – clinging hopelessly to love, light and the beauty of life. For their second consecutive night at the Proms, Sir Simon Rattle and his Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra take on Mahler’s gargantuan and grippingly intense work.

Seats from £26 to £80 (plus booking fee). On sale 18 May

There will be no interval

Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3